Pre-Cellular Jail Period Gallows to be Restored in Andaman

The island has a gallows atop a hillock, where condemned prisoners were hanged. Sher Ali, who killed the then Viceroy of India Lord Mayo in 1872, was also hanged in Port Blair.

Port Blair: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration has taken up a project to preserve the heritage sites of Viper island, which had been used by the British as an open jail for convicts and freedom fighters prior to construction of the Cellular jail.

The island has a gallows atop a hillock, where condemned prisoners were hanged. Sher Ali, who killed the then Viceroy of India Lord Mayo in 1872, was also hanged in Port Blair.

The Department of Art and Culture is taking up a development plan of the Viper Island in which the gallows and a guard house would be restored to attract tourists, the Department said in a release today.

The jail and gallows in Viper island were built by the British during 1864-67 and they were abandoned when the Cellular jail in Port Blair opened in 1906.

Many of the unsung heroes of the Freedom struggle were hanged and their mortal remains were thrown into the sea, the release said.